Switzerland Population

Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world and has a form of direct democracy with frequent referendums. The political system and the good economy have made Switzerland one of the most stable countries in the world.

Key figures and facts

• Capital: Bern
• Ethnic groups: Swiss 70.3%, German 4.2% Italian 3.2%, Portuguese 2.6%, French 2%, Kosovo 1%, other 18.7% (2017)
• Language: German (official) 62.8%, French (official) 22.9%, Italian (official) 8.2%, English 5.1%, Portuguese 3.7%, Albanian 3.1%, Serbo-Croatian 2.4%, Spanish 2.3%, Rhetoric (official) 0.5 %, other 7.5%. (2016)
• Religion: Catholics 36.5%, Protestants 24.5%, other Christians 5.9%, Muslims 5.2%, others 1.4%, Jewish 0.3%, none 24.9%, unspecified 1.3% (2016)
• Population: 8 544 034
• Control Form: Republic
• Area: 41 285 km2
• Currency: Swiss Franc
• GNP per capita: 63 889 PPP $
• National Day: August 1st

Switzerland Population

Switzerland’s population in the 1950s and 1960s showed an average annual growth of 1.4 percent. This relatively strong growth was largely due to immigration, and in 1960-70 immigration accounted for 40 percent of the total population growth in the country. With the economic downturn of 1973-74, the traditional immigration surplus was replaced by a significant net outflow, and in 1970-80 as a whole, the average annual growth in the country’s population was only 0.15 percent. From the 1980s, population growth has again shown an increase; Growth averaged 0.6 percent annually in 1980-90 and 1.1 percent in the ten-year period 2008-2018.

Growth in Switzerland’s population in the 1980s was divided by 40 percent on natural growth (birth surplus) and 60 percent on net immigration. The proportion of birth surpluses increased to 48 percent in the 1990s, but has dropped significantly since the turn of the millennium; the share thus amounted to only 15 percent in the ten-year period 2007–16. This is primarily due to a very strong increase in net immigration, a development we know from most Western European countries, including Norway.

The increase in net immigration is also reflected in the proportion of foreign nationals constituting the country’s total population growth, as well as in their share of the country’s total population. Thus, in the 1990s, the growth in the number of Swiss nationals accounted for just over 1/3 of the country’s total annual population growth, while their share of the Swiss population in 1990 was 84.0 percent. Up to 2000, their share of the country’s population dropped to 80.4 percent, and in 2017, Swiss nationals made up 74.9 percent of the country’s total population.

In 2017, Switzerland had more than 2.1 million residents with foreign nationality. The largest single countries measured by their share of foreign nationals residing in Switzerland are (percent 2017): Italy (15.1) Germany (14.5), Portugal (12.8), France (6.0), Kosovo (5), 2), Spain (4.0), Serbia (3.3), Turkey (3.3), Macedonia (3.1) and Austria (2.0). Of the foreign nationals residing in Switzerland in 2017, a total of 66 percent came from EU/EFTA countries and 18 percent from Europe in general.

Increasing life expectancy and a steadily declining birth surplus have led to over 65 years of age constituting an ever larger proportion of the population; the group accounted for 18.3 percent in 2017. At the same time, the share for the group is under 20; In 2017, this group accounted for 20.0 percent.

The total fertility rate (the average number of children a woman gets to live her entire fertile age (15-49 years), and based on the birth rates at each age step in the current year) was between 1.52 (2010)) and 1.55 (2016). The average life expectancy at birth was 2016 in Switzerland at 81.5 years for men and 85.3 years for women. The differences in life expectancy between the sexes have been reduced in Switzerland, as in most western countries, including Norway, in the last decades. The difference was 3.8 years in 2016, for example 5.7 years in 2001 and 6.8 years in 1981.

In 2017, the average population density for the entire country was 204 residents per km². The large mountain areas contribute to a geographically very uneven population density, giving Switzerland as a whole a lower population density than the other Central European countries. Clearly the closest is the settlement in Mittelland. The thinnest poplar canton (Graubünden) has only 28 people per km².

Village building is the most common form of settlement in the countryside, usually the villages are small, and most villages form their own municipalities. In some cantons, such as Appenzell and Jura, single farms are common.

In 2017, the five largest cities (Zurich, Basel, Geneva, Bern and Lausanne) had only 12.4 percent of the country’s population. This is a result of the special municipal structure in Switzerland with, among other things, very narrow boundaries for the cities. With the suburbs, that is, in the agglomerations (towns) that these five cities form, the population that year constituted 39.4 percent of Switzerland’s population.

In total, 77.4 percent of Switzerland’s population in 2017 lived in ” urban areas”, which in Norway roughly corresponds to urban areas with more than approximately 10,000 residents.

Population of Switzerland by Year (Historical)

Year	Population	Annual Growth Rate	Population Density	Global Rank
2020	8,654,511	0.740%	219.0156	101
2019	8,591,254	0.770%	217.4148	100
2018	8,525,500	0.830%	215.7509	100
2017	8,455,693	0.910%	213.9843	99
2016	8,379,806	1.000%	212.0639	99
2015	8,296,664	1.220%	209.9599	99
2010	7,808,564	1.120%	197.6079	97
2005	7,386,705	0.670%	186.9323	96
2000	7,143,650	0.420%	180.7815	93
1995	6,995,410	1.010%	177.0301	92
1990	6,652,757	0.670%	168.3588	91
1985	6,435,313	0.480%	162.8562	88
1980	6,283,721	-0.170%	159.0199	81
1975	6,336,914	0.600%	160.3661	78
1970	6,150,741	1.140%	155.6547	72
1965	5,812,740	1.940%	147.1012	68
1960	5,280,569	1.270%	133.6340	70
1955	4,956,955	1.210%	125.4445	71
1950	4,667,975	0.000%	118.1315	68

Major Cities in Switzerland by Population

Rank	City	Population
1	Zurich	341,619
2	Geneve	183,870
3	Basel	164,377
4	Bern	121,520
5	Lausanne	116,640
6	Winterthur	91,797
7	Sankt Gallen	70,461
8	Lugano	62,889
9	Luzern	56,955
10	Zuerich (Kreis 11)	54,149
11	Biel/Bienne	48,503
12	Zuerich (Kreis 3)	45,907
13	Zuerich (Kreis 9)	44,767
14	Thun	42,025
15	Koniz	37,085
16	La Chaux-de-Fonds	36,714
17	Zuerich (Kreis 10)	36,105
18	Rapperswil	34,665
19	Schaffhausen	33,752
20	Zuerich (Kreis 7)	33,709
21	Fribourg	32,716
22	Chur	32,318
23	Neuchatel	31,159
24	Vernier	29,975
25	Zuerich (Kreis 6)	29,840
26	Zuerich (Kreis 2)	29,104
27	Zuerich (Kreis 9) / Altstetten	28,196
28	Zuerich (Kreis 12)	28,078
29	Sitten	27,934
30	Lancy	27,180
31	Zuerich (Kreis 4) / Aussersihl	27,162
32	Emmen	26,778
33	Kriens	24,899
34	Yverdon-les-Bains	23,591
35	Zug	23,324
36	Uster	23,168
37	Montreux	22,786
38	Frauenfeld	21,868
39	Zuerich (Kreis 3) / Sihlfeld	20,866
40	Dietikon	20,782
41	Baar	20,435
42	Zuerich (Kreis 6) / Unterstrass	19,934
43	Riehen	19,889
44	Dubendorf	19,771
45	Meyrin	19,661
46	Carouge	19,233
47	Wettingen	18,080
48	Allschwil	18,078
49	Zuerich (Kreis 11) / Oerlikon	17,811
50	Zuerich (Kreis 11) / Seebach	17,740
51	Renens	17,700
52	Jona	17,544
53	Kreuzlingen	17,544
54	Onex	17,191
55	Zuerich (Kreis 11) / Affoltern	17,130
56	Zuerich (Kreis 10) / Hoengg	17,006
57	Gossau	16,932
58	Muttenz	16,816
59	Wil	16,697
60	Nyon	16,686
61	Bellinzona	16,461
62	Zuerich (Kreis 9) / Albisrieden	16,369
63	Olten	16,300
64	Oberwinterthur (Kreis 2)	16,245
65	Kloten	16,178
66	Pully	16,152
67	Stadt Winterthur (Kreis 1)	16,071
68	Littau	16,010
69	Baden	16,007
70	Zuerich (Kreis 2) / Wollishofen	15,962
71	Horgen	15,862
72	Grenchen	15,816
73	Vevey	15,701
74	Sierre	15,641
75	Zuerich (Kreis 10) / Wipkingen	15,607
76	Zuerich (Kreis 8)	15,408
77	Aarau	15,390
78	Herisau	15,327
79	Seen (Kreis 3)	15,323
80	Adliswil	15,119
81	Steffisburg	15,080
82	Monthey	14,995
83	Zuerich (Kreis 3) / Alt-Wiedikon	14,820
84	Pratteln	14,766
85	Solothurn	14,742
86	Burgdorf	14,677
87	Martigny-Ville	14,657
88	Locarno	14,398
89	Freienbach	14,191
90	Langenthal	14,073
91	Schwyz	14,066
92	Binningen	14,019
93	Morges	14,006
94	Wohlen	13,764
95	Cham	13,384
96	Thalwil	13,185
97	Waedenswil	13,158
98	Bulach	13,061
99	Einsiedeln	13,037
100	Thonex	12,946
101	Zuerich (Kreis 4) / Hard	12,865
102	Wetzikon	12,858
103	Arbon	12,822
104	Liestal	12,721
105	Schlieren	12,584
106	Wuelflingen (Kreis 6)	12,487
107	Spiez	12,483
108	Muri	12,263
109	Horw	12,237
110	Uzwil	12,000
111	Bulle	11,984
112	Kussnacht	11,666
113	Zuerich (Kreis 5)	11,626
114	Wallisellen	11,594
115	Munchenstein	11,533
116	Kuesnacht	11,414
117	Ebikon	11,360
118	Versoix	11,356
119	Zofingen	11,340
120	Amriswil	11,240
121	Zuerich (Kreis 12) / Hirzenbach	11,224
122	Delemont	11,204
123	Worb	10,942
124	Mattenbach (Kreis 7)	10,932
125	Davos	10,913
126	Lyss	10,826
127	Munsingen	10,817
128	Rheinfelden	10,622
129	Gland	10,530
130	Altstatten	10,463
131	Spreitenbach	10,451
132	Plan-les-Ouates	10,429
133	Prilly	10,413
134	La Tour-de-Peilz	10,411
135	Chene-Bougeries	10,376
136	Zuerich (Kreis 12) / Schwamendingen-Mitte	10,365
137	Rotkreuz	10,328
138	Uster / Kirch-Uster	10,317
139	Buchs	10,307
140	Oftringen	10,279
141	Zuerich (Kreis 4) / Langstrasse	10,275
142	Le Locle	10,168
143	Ecublens	10,151
144	Birsfelden	10,121
145	Richterswil	10,078
146	Oberwil	10,076
147	Aesch	10,027
148	Effretikon	10,008
149	Ecublens	9,954
150	Villars-sur-Glane	9,910
151	Neuhausen	9,908
152	Zuerich (Kreis 7) / Hottingen	9,823
153	Zuerich (Kreis 3) / Friesenberg	9,798
154	Zuerich (Kreis 6) / Oberstrass	9,795
155	Zuerich (Kreis 5) / Gewerbeschule	9,780
156	Arth	9,739
157	Munchenbuchsee	9,690
158	Veyrier	9,689
159	Le Grand-Saconnex	9,670
160	Bernex	9,648
161	Flawil	9,628
162	Therwil	9,484
163	Rueti	9,465
164	Weinfelden	9,303
165	Sarnen	9,299
166	Mohlin	9,271
167	Suhr	9,263
168	Belp	9,196
169	Arlesheim	9,190
170	Colombier	9,186
171	Zuchwil	9,157
172	Ober Urdorf	9,094
173	Gstaad	9,089
174	Brugg	9,085
175	Eschenbach	9,064
176	Wohlen	9,048
177	Zollikofen	9,010
178	Zuerich (Kreis 7) / Witikon	8,988
179	Goldach	8,983
180	Hunenberg	8,921
181	Rorschach	8,889
182	Romanshorn	8,845
183	Affoltern am Albis	8,817
184	Veltheim	8,790
185	Langnau	8,673
186	Lutry	8,663
187	Altdorf	8,567
188	Toss	8,561
189	Wittenbach	8,431
190	Steinhausen	8,398
191	Zuerich (Kreis 2) / Enge	8,142
192	Hochdorf	8,081
193	Kirchberg	8,016
194	Wattwil	7,978
195	Chiasso	7,949
196	Sursee	7,903
197	Pfaffikon	7,883
198	Obersiggenthal	7,879
199	Unterageri	7,862
200	Ingenbohl	7,856
201	Hegnau	7,850
202	Chene-Bourg	7,848
203	Neuenhof	7,846
204	Maennedorf	7,840
205	Biberist	7,778
206	Reinach	7,734
207	Giubiasco	7,641
208	Schubelbach	7,634
209	Aigle	7,612
210	Moutier	7,610
211	Epalinges	7,595
212	Oberriet	7,564
213	Payerne	7,544
214	Marly	7,542
215	Aadorf	7,509
216	Oberentfelden	7,442
217	Naters	7,441
218	Pregassona	7,437
219	Regensdorf	7,420
220	Stans	7,364
221	Rothrist	7,312
222	Bussigny	7,297
223	Lenzburg	7,281
224	Lengnau	7,225
225	Mendrisio	7,199
226	Pfaeffikon	7,199
227	Dudingen	7,044
228	Siebnen	6,993
229	Embrach	6,977
230	Bassersdorf	6,899
231	Zuerich (Kreis 7) / Fluntern	6,898
232	Langnau am Albis	6,889
233	Wollerau	6,772
234	Thalwil / Dorfkern	6,718
235	Aarburg	6,717
236	Igis	6,717
237	Domat	6,706
238	Zuerich (Kreis 7) / Hirslanden	6,658
239	Nidau	6,585
240	Windisch	6,578
241	Lachen	6,574
242	Au	6,562
243	Frutigen	6,560
244	Ollon	6,554
245	Minusio	6,542
246	Conthey	6,523
247	Zermatt	6,518
248	Bagnes	6,515
249	Saanen	6,510
250	Crissier	6,501
251	Buchs	6,488
252	Visp	6,465
253	Graenichen	6,446
254	Bremgarten	6,432
255	Meggen	6,422
256	Porrentruy	6,410
257	Blecherette	6,405
258	Kilchberg	6,400
259	Muri	6,352
260	Sirnach	6,352
261	Dornach	6,338
262	Thal	6,322
263	Ruswil	6,321
264	Grabs	6,273
265	Viganello	6,264
266	Untersiggenthal	6,233
267	Trimbach	6,109
268	Zuerich (Kreis 1)	6,074
269	Malters	6,070
270	Frenkendorf	6,069
271	Dietlikon / Dietlikon (Dorf)	6,038
272	Horgen / Horgen (Dorfkern)	6,029
273	Derendingen	5,982
274	Bolligen	5,975
275	Losone	5,959
276	Neuenkirch	5,852
277	Bex	5,845
278	Mattenbach (Kreis 7) / Deutweg	5,819
279	Collombey	5,815
280	Fully	5,811
281	Bottmingen	5,801
282	Biasca	5,774
283	Sissach	5,762
284	Balsthal	5,752
285	Zollikon	5,701
286	Oberengstringen	5,694
287	Murten/Morat	5,689
288	Massagno	5,663
289	Stafa	5,626
290	Les Avanchets	5,619
291	Peseux	5,605
292	Gelterkinden	5,598
293	Teufen	5,572
294	Glarus	5,570
295	Uetendorf	5,543
296	Appenzell	5,538
297	Oberuzwil	5,505
298	Pfaeffikon / Pfaeffikon (Dorfkern)	5,484
299	Adligenswil	5,465
300	Saviese	5,464
301	Zuerich (Kreis 8) / Muehlebach	5,459
302	Uznach	5,450
303	Buochs	5,413
304	Herzogenbuchsee	5,411
305	Heimberg	5,390
306	Wurenlos	5,386
307	Villmergen	5,378
308	Hinwil	5,377
309	Chavannes	5,343
310	Hergiswil	5,326
311	Menziken	5,304
312	Basse-Nendaz	5,299
313	Diepoldsau	5,290
314	Sankt Margrethen	5,284
315	Oberwinterthur (Kreis 2) / Guggenbuehl	5,265
316	Oberwinterthur (Kreis 2) / Talacker	5,264
317	Buchrain	5,230
318	Kirchberg	5,224
319	Goldau	5,174
320	Altendorf	5,169
321	Le Mont-sur-Lausanne	5,159
322	Urtenen	5,147
323	Blonay	5,133
324	Kuttigen	5,123
325	Saint-Imier	5,109
326	Alpnach	5,107
327	Kerns	5,106
328	Laufen	5,099
329	Zuerich (Kreis 12) / Saatlen	5,098
330	Sumiswald	5,048
331	Unterseen	5,039
332	Rumlang	5,033
333	Orbe	5,021
334	Uster / Ober-Uster	4,989
335	Chatel-Saint-Denis	4,983
336	Ascona	4,973
337	Interlaken	4,956
338	Bad Ragaz	4,952
339	Estavayer-le-Lac	4,950
340	Sargans	4,934
341	Greifensee	4,921
342	Wallisellen / Wallisellen-Ost	4,920
343	Herrliberg	4,914

Religion

Christian groups in what today constitutes Switzerland already existed in the twentieth century. Diocese seats are known from before 400; monastic foundations came in the 600s. Huldreich (Ulrich) Zwingli’s Reformation in Zurich from 1519 and the Reformation movement in Geneva with Jean Calvin as leader made Switzerland a confessionally divided country. As late as 1847, the country experienced a brief religious war between Protestant and Catholic cantons; it involved the Jesuits’ access to establish institutions in the country. The result of the war was that the constitution of the federal state got a Jesuit ban, which was first repealed in 1973.

Of the Swiss population today, including foreign nationals, 26 percent belong to the group without stated confession or without belonging to any religious community (2017). Of those who belong to a religious community (5 151,000 people), nine percent belong to a non-Christian confession. Those who belong to a Christian denomination are divided by 55 percent on the Roman Catholic Church (including the ancient Catholics) and 45 percent on a Protestant denomination.

In traditionally Protestant cantons such as Geneva, Neuchâtel and Basel, church and state are separated. The Evangelical Church in Zurich and Bern, on the other hand, has the character of a state-supported national church with inner self-government. Protestant theological faculties are found at the universities of Basel, Bern, Zurich, Neuchâtel and Geneva, Catholic faculties in Friborg and Lucerne. The small minority of old Catholics have their own theological faculty at the University of Bern.

Dialectical theology, with Karl Barth and Emil Brunner as the leading names, had its center in Switzerland. The Basel Mission Company (1815) is one of the oldest in the world.

Language

Switzerland has three official languages ​​at the national level: German, French and Italian. A fourth language, rhetorical, is a national language with the right to be used as the official language of the Canton of Graubünden.

Excluding those who do not have one of the four national languages ​​as their mother tongue, the population is divided by 66.5 percent in German, 24.3 percent in French, 8.7 percent in Italian and 0.5 percent in rhetoran (2017).

The cantons of Neuchâtel, Vaud, Geneva and Jura are French-speaking, in Bern (Berne), Friborg (Freiburg) and Valais (Wallis) both French and German and in Ticino Italian. In the Graubünden, which is the linguistically speaking most cantonese in Switzerland, there is a clear majority who are German-speaking, but the canton has both Italian and rhetorical speaking areas. The other 17 cantons in Switzerland (including the half cantons) are purely German-speaking.

In addition to German, Italian is spoken in the Graubünden in three confined valleys south of the main water divide in the Alps (Mesolcina, Bregalia and Poschiavo). Especially for the canton is the feature of rhetoric found in several geographically distinct areas, including the Vorderrhein valley, Engadin and Val Müstair. The rhetoric speakers used several different traditional writing variants in the past, but have now developed a standardized writing norm. Although the everyday language and the language of school and administration are rhetorical in these areas, in practice the people of the rhetoran-speaking areas are bilingual with German in addition to the mother tongue.

All layers of the German-speaking population use local dialects (Schwyzerdütsch) as common speech, but the written language is high German standard language as in Germany and Austria. High German is otherwise used orally to a great extent in the media, in primary school teaching, as stage language, etc.